Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/democratic-candidates-battle-for-iowas-support Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Democratic presidential hopefuls gathered for another debate Sunday, this time in the critical caucus state of Iowa to discuss Iraq, political experience and their electability on ABC's "This Week." Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. MARGARET WARNER: Yesterday's encounter in Des Moines was the seventh major Democratic debate this year, and the first to be held in the critical early caucus state of Iowa. So all eight candidates were on hand. And with recent Iowa polls showing three of them — Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards — in a dead heat, ABC News moderator George Stephanopoulos began by taking aim at one of them. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC News Moderator: Is Barack Obama ready to be president, experienced enough to be president? MARGARET WARNER: Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd sounded skeptical.SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), Connecticut: We're asking Democrats across the country to choose amongst us here who is best able to lead. The experience, the background, the demonstrated success in dealing with both domestic and foreign policy issues are critical questions. You're not going to have time in January of '09 to get ready for this job; you've got to be ready immediately for it. MARGARET WARNER: Illinois Senator Obama responded by making light of the jabs from his rivals.SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), Illinois: Well, you know, to prepare for this debate, I rode in the bumper cars at the state fair and…